Our biggest challenge yet...

I mentioned in my previous post that I'm a big fan of waterfalls and had made a list of nearby falls that it might be possible to visit this summer. The little town of Tolox, only 40 km inland and upland from here is well known for the many falls in the surrounding mountains, the Sierra de las Nieves (the snowy mountains.) 

One of these, the Cascada Charco de la Virgen (photo above left) is only a few kilometres from the town and is a popular spot for family hiking and swimming in summer time. Guessing that it would be quieter midweek than at the weekend, we decided to make a trip there today (and I can work on my curriculum writing project tomorrow, instead.)

Someone suggested that we add on an extra couple of kilometres and climb a little higher to the Salto de la Rejía, which is the highest waterfall in the whole province of Malaga, descending in three stages of 67, 28 and 15 metres. (Photo below left shows the first and second falls.)

I wasn't sure I'd be able to do that sort of ascent; there seemed to be too many challenges making it seem out of reach: my bronchiectasis (lung condition) means that I'm always out of breath when walking uphill, my arthritis means that I get sore feet if I walk too far, and the fibromyalgia means that anything too energetic causes kind of a burning pain in my muscles.  But the 67 metre Rejía falls are only one and a half kilometres further on than the 18 metre Virgen falls, so it seemed worth giving it a try; they were along the same route and I knew I could always turn back if the ascent was too much for me.

The thing about waterfalls is that they're nearly always a little bit off the beaten track, so it's a good opportunity to take the dogs with us and let them get plenty of exercise out in the open air. This time, I took Buba, Bonnie and Nelson with me.... even though Bonnie's physical limitations (those short chihuahua legs) raised similar questions to my own, concerning her ability to last the course.

I needn't have worried: as she's already proved on previous walks, Bonnie rose to the challenge, valiantly hiking nine kilometres, swimming across rivers and climbing to the region's highest waterfall like a champion. She's a real example of not letting our physical limitations tell us that things are impossible for us.

In fact those "only one and a half kilometres further" turned out to be quite a bit more strenuous than the previous ones. There were times when I simply didn't have enough strength to make it up the slope, but Nelson, who's like a mountain goat, was happy to assist me. I would put his lead on him at the steep parts and he would help to pull me up.

We saw some real mountain goats (much to the dogs' interest) and also a fake one, as a statue of the "cabra montes" marks the start of the Sierra de las Nieves nature reserve.

The uphill parts were interspersed with more level stretches, so the walk was attainable, and it was really worth it to get to La Rejía and realise that we'd climbed to the (middle of) the highest waterfall in the province. None of our future waterfall visits will be as demanding as today's experience and we feel rightfully proud of ourselves.

Remembering how the walking first started - click here - it's amazing to look back a couple of years and see how my dog "pack" has grown from one to four, and my ability to walk has grown from ten minutes a day to an hour a day.